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Blog posts : "crane"

Dorset firm fined after Christmas crane collapse

Photo shows the crane involved in the incident

A Dorset-based property developer has been told to pay a total of £97,681 after residents living near one of its construction sites in Essex were evacuated when a 45 metre crane jib collapsed.

The incident was one of two that happened in December 2011 at a site in South Road, Saffron Walden. Bot…

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Engineering firm sentenced following Preston worker’s death

Photo shows the overhead crane that crushed Liam ONeill

A major engineering firm has been sentenced for safety failings following the death of an electrician who was crushed by an overhead crane at a Preston factory.

Liam O’Neill had been trying to replace a control cable when the incident happened at Assystem UK Ltd. in Bamber Bridge on 12 March 2011…

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Glossop metals firm in court over employee's crane injuries

Photo shows the open-sided metal container which struck the worker

A Glossop-based metal manufacturer has appeared in court after an employee was injured when he was struck by a container as it swung from an overhead crane.

Firth Rixson Metals Ltd., which produces specialised metals for the aerospace, medical, oil and nuclear industries, was prosecuted on 1 Octo…

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Boatyard firm fined for crane danger

The overturned crane on its side

An Isle of Wight boatyard business has been fined for safety failings after a poorly maintained mobile crane overturned during a lifting operation at Yarmouth Harbour.

No-one was injured in the incident at Harold Hayles Ltd. on 1 November 2011, but a car was badly damaged by the jib of the 35-ton…

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Environment agency sentenced after worker drowning

The Environment Agency (EA) has been ordered to pay more than £220,000 in fines and costs after a catalogue of errors caused one of its employees to drown while dredging an icy Cambridgeshire watercourse.

Simon Wenn, 43, from Main Road, Threeholes, Near Wisbech, died on 8 December 2010 while worki…

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Firms fined after crane crashed down on building site

80 tonne mobile crane toppled overTwo companies have been fined after a serious failure in communications led to an 80 tonne mobile crane toppling over, narrowly missing workmen and a busy road.

The incident happened on a building site in Fernbrook Road, Gillingham, on 18 August 2009 during construction of a new nursing home.

Sout…

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Driver fined after unstable lorry topples over and injures worker

The overturned lorry after the incidentA worker unloading scaffold materials from a flatbed lorry was thrown from the vehicle and hit by its load of boards and tubes when it overturned a court was told (on 12 October).

Martin Sapec, 54, of Edwardsville, Treharris suffered a broken pelvis and ankle in the incident at Bryntirion, Mo…

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Safety failings by steel firm led to worker's death

One of the steel girders with the overhead crane with hook in the backgroundA South Yorkshire firm has been ordered to pay £142,000 in fines and costs for serious safety breaches after a worker died when he was crushed by a one and a half tonne steel girder.

Steelworker John Mott, 47, who had worked in the steel industry since leaving school, received fatal injuries…

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Construction firms sentenced over Liverpool crane collapse

The collapsed crane at the Kings Dock Mill siteTwo construction firms have been sentenced after a crane collapsed onto a city centre apartment block in Liverpool, resulting in the crane driver being paralysed from the waist down.

The 79-metre-high tower crane was being used as part of a multi-million pound project to build a new eight-sto…

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Building firm fined after passer-by hit by falling equipment

A Hertfordshire building company has been fined for injuring a woman as she waited for a bus.

Concentra Ltd., based in Waltham Cross, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after inspectors found that the incident on 26 September 2008 was preventable.

Westminster Magistrates' …

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Two companies fined for worker's injury at power plant

Two companies have been fined after a worker at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire suffered a broken foot when a 13kg weight dropped nearly four metres from an overhead crane.

A mechanical fitter, from Scunthorpe, had been operating the 21-ton crane with a colleague and needed it to change dir…

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Worker killed by falling steel beem

J H Carruthers Ltd. (formerly Konecranes (UK) Ltd.) has been fined £180,000 after a worker was killed when a large steel beam fell on him at an incinerator in Slough, Berkshire.

Colin Dickson, 38, of Motherwell, Lanarkshire, died when the temporary suspension points on a suspended beam he was und…

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Manchester worker paralysed in crane crush

A scaffolder from Manchester will never walk again after being crushed by metal tubes which fell from a crane.

David Collins, a 31-year-old father of two who worked for Bury firm Spectra Scaffolding, suffered severe injuries to his head, back and leg and is now paraplegic.

The Health and Sa…

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Fall hazards in unusual places — what you don’t know CAN hurt you

This post was written by Rigid Lifelines, a leading provider of fall protection solution and OSHA fall protection information. They provide anything from a simple fall arrest harness, to a more comprehensive system.

Many fall hazards are obvious to even the untrained eye. Unenclosed elevated walkwa…

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Crane crack sends Australian desalination plant staff home

A crack in a crane at a desalination plant forced the evacuation of 120 workers yesterday.

The workers were sent home at 2.30pm on full pay after the fault was detected in a crane in the pumping station area of the plant.

The workers were evacuated for safety reasons, reports the Herald Sun.

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National power company fined after employee electrocuted

UK Power Networks (which supplies the East of England, London and the South East) has been fined after an employee died while working at one of its Norfolk sites.

Jonathan Crosby, 45, was working as an electrical overhead linesman at UK Power Networks (formerly known as EDF Energy Networks Limited)…

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Crane collapse kills Australian worker

A loaded crane collapsed, killing a 27-year-old worker at BHP Billiton's iron ore loading facility at Finucane Island at Port Hedland.

BHP Billiton Iron Ore reports that "The onsite emergency team has been activated and external emergency services including police are attending the scene," adding th…

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Montreal crane operator injured in crane fall

A woman was taken to hospital and treated for multiple fractures, including two broken arms and a broken leg following the toppling of the crane she was operating.

CTV News Montreal reports that the mobile construction crane, working on a project at the former Seville Theatre site, fell into a 20-m…

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Overloaded crane kills two in Vietnam

An overloaded crane collapsed at the Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard Company in Khanh Hoa Province, killing two workers. The Thanh Nien News reports that Le Bao Toan, 33, died instantly and Hoang Quang Thao, 39, died on the way to hospital. Two others were injured under the crane.

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Crane manufacturer fined after falling steel girder narrowly misses workers

Konecranes UK Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching reg.8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. It was fined £8000 and ordered to pay costs of £7529.

The company had been contracted to move an overhead runway from one end of a warehouse to the other. The workers attache…

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